Tension tester or indicator



March 4 E924;

C. S. RHOADS TENSION TESTER `R INDICATOR Filed April 29 1920 eremita naar. ieaa earner carica.

CHARLES STANLEY RHODS, 0F YONKERS, NEW YORK.

TENSION TESTER OR NDCATOR.

Application led April 29, 1920.

To all whom t may concern,-

Be it known that l, CHARLES STANLEY ltr-ans, a citizen of the United States, residing at Yonkers, inthe county or' Weste chester and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful improve-- ment in Tension Testers or Indicators, of whichl the following is a full, clear, con-- oise, and exact description, reference being 1G had to the accompanying drawings, formina part of this specification.

y invention relates to tension testers or indicators, in combination with wire Stringing block and tackle and has for its object the provision of a means for readily indicating the tension placed upon a wire or other flexible member while the same is being erected.

lt is a purpose of the invention to provid means for readily indicating-the tension being placed on a wire or other ilexible member while the same is being erected. lt has been customary in erecting or Stringing wires to tension the same entirely by guess work. It has been the general practice up to the present time to tension the wires while being erected merely by guess work and as a result the desired tension on the wire for the best results has seldom been obtained. By the present invention the proper tension for different Yconditions and lengths ol" spans can be obtained accurately due to the use of the tension indicator in connection with the wire stretching device. v More specifically it is the object of my invention to provide a tension indicator that will receive only a fraction of the pull exerted on the wire, cable or 'other member whose tension it is desired to measure.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a tension indicating means of the above character so located between a plurality of pulleys having means 'for connecting them that the indicating means will receive only a portion of the stress that is to be measured. The indicator can bear any de'- sired scale, such as the tension to be measured in pounds on the flexible member, or on the tension indicating means itself, or a scale can be provided showing directly the amount each kind and gauge of wire or Serial No. 377,63 1.

other flexible member shall be pulled up for dierent span lengths and temperatures.

Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings wherein F ig. 1 is a side 55 elevation of one form of my improved tension indicating means, with one form of grips associated therewith.

Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of the same.

F 1g. 3 1s a side elevation of a slightly modled arrangement of the tension indicatmg means, one of the grips being omitted and a hook substituted therefor.

Fig. l is a diagrammatic view showing a further modified arrangement of the tension indicating means.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of a pullfey block, showing a locking means thereor. f

My improved tension indicating device comprises spaced pulley members 5 and 6 connected by a plurality of lengths 7 of a flexible member such as a rope or cable 8. The pulley members 5 and 6 may each comprise a single pulley or any number of pulleys, depending on the number of lengths of the flexible member it is `desired to extend between the pulley members. In the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and Q, two pulleys are provided on each of the members 5 and 6. rlhe block 9 of the pulley member is provided with an eye 11, or other suitable means for securing the spring balance orother tension indicating means 12 thereto in any suitable manner such as by a ring 13 engaging with eye 11 and an eye in member 12. The member 9 is provided with an additional eye 14; for securing any suitable wire gripping means 15 to said pulley member 5. This wire gripping means may be of any form, that shown being a common commercial form of wire grip.

The one end 16 of the flexible member 8 is secured to the end or the spring bal- 95 ance opposite that secured to the .pulley member 5 and in the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 iirst passes over the pulleys 17 on member 6 and then over the pulley 18 on member 5, then backagain to member 6 and over the pulley 19 and finally over the pulley 20. The free end of the member 8,

alsl

shown broken away in the drawings, is adapted to be pulled in any suitable manner to operate the device.

The block 10, in the form shown in Figs. l and 2, is provided with an eye 2l for securing any suitable gripping means 22 thereto, while in the form shown in Fig. 3 the block 10 has a hook 23, or any other suitable grappling member associated therewith.

ln the form of the invention shown in Fig. 3 the pulley member 5 is constructed in a manner similar to the member 5 in Figs. l and 2, except that it is'pr-'ovided with only a single pulley. ri`he pulley member 6 is also provided with'but a single pulley. rlhe tension indicating means 12 and the other par-ts associated with the member 5 are precisely the same as those Vused in the form shown inFigs. l and 2. The flexible meinber 8 in the form shown inFig.y 3 has lits lengths 7 extending from the end 16 attached tothe spring balancel2,"first over the vpulley of member 6 and then yover the pulley `of member 5', the free end of the member being adapted to be pulled in any suitable manner.

lt ywill-be evidentr 'from' the above description that there are v'four lengths 7 lof the flexible member 8 between the pulleys in Figs. l and 2 4and two'leng'ths 7 of the flexible member 8 *bet-Ween the pulleys in Fig. 3. Now if the gripping members 15 in Figs. land-'2 are ysecured yto 'the ends of a wire `or other flexibleiimember or to any two points thereon and a pull is exerted on the end of member 8, the pull 'on-the wire 24 :for example, will be Efive times as great as that exerted on the member 8, and the spring balance will recive only one-fifth of the tension exerted on lthe vwire 24. lf the arrangement shown in Fig. 3 is used and the member 8 is pulled the -spring balance will receive-only one-third of thetension exerted on the wire 2li. rEhe markings on the spring balance can be such as to indica-te the actual tension on 'the wire, or the tension on 'the rope or in any other suitable manner.

In thel form of the invention shown diagrammatically in Fig. t, the tension indicating means vcomprising the pulley members 5 and 6 and spring balance l2 is the same as that shown in Fig. l except that a hoek' 23 Vis substituted for the member 22 and a block and tackle device 25 is interposed between the gripping device l5 and the wire 2li. The block and tackle is provided-with a plurality of lengths of rope between the pulleys thereof, four beingsho'wn in the present instance, the free end of said rope 26 being secured to the member 5 and the gripper 15 and block 2? being secured together in -any suitable manner. ln this form the hook 23 and the hook 28 are secured to any suitable anchorage and when a pull on rope 8 is vexerted in the direction ofithe arrow, the pull exerted on the spring balance would be the same as that on said rope 8 and the pull on rope 26 would be fivetimes that on rope 8 While the pull on the wire 2li will be live times as great as that on rope 26. This would cause the spring balance to receive one-twenty-fifth of the tension exerted on the wire 24". It will be evident from the above that any desired ratio between the tension of the wire and the vteni-:ien on the measuring instrument can thus be obtained, and the measuring instrument can thus be made of any vdesired lightness and lineness.

lt might be desirable, sometimes, to lock the pulleys at the end at which the pull on the rcpeS is ordinarily exerted. in Fig. 5 a block 9 is shown, provided with pulleys 18 and 20 and these are provided with a locking means 30. 'When the pulleys are locked by this means, in the arrangement shown in Figs. l and 2 for example, the tension would be distributed between four lengths of rope 7 and the tension indicator would receive one-fourth of the pull exerted on the wire 24C.

While i have shown and described several specific forms of my invention in detail, l desire to have it understoody that i do 'not intend -to `limit my invention to the details thereof, except as defined by the following claims l. in a device for placing a flexible mem-V ber under tension, a plurality of `pulley members, a flexible member having lengths extending between said pulley members, said pulleymembers being provided with means for `detachably securing the same to a flexible member that is to be placed'under tension, and tension indicating means positioned in one of said lengths between said pulley members whereby said tension indicating means will be subjected to only a portion of the stress to be measured, said tension indicating'means having a hook and one of said blocks'having an eyelet adapted to receive said hook toy connect said tension indicating means thereto.

2. ln a device for :stretching a wire, pairs of pulley blocks, connecting means mounted on each of said pulley bloclrs,saidsmeans providingA a detachable connection at each end of said device and `comprising an automatic wire gripping member for connecting 'f said'device with the wire, a flexible member having lengths 'extending between said pulley bloclrs for tensioning said wire, and a tension indicating means directly connected to one of said pulley blocks and to one end of said iiexible member.

3; In a device for placing a'fiexible member under tension, a plurality of 'pulley members,` aflexible member having lengths extending between said pulley members, a tension indicating means directly connected to one of said pulley members and to an leys, a tension indicating means interposed end of said flexible member, and automatic in one of the lengths of said flexible mem- 10 gripping means directly connected to said ber, and means for locking one of said pulpulleys for connecting said device to a memleys against rotation.

5 ber of which the tension is to be measured. In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe 4. In a device of the character described, my name this 22nd day of April A. D., 1920.

a plurality of pulleys, a flexible member having lengths. extending between said pul- CHARLES STANLEY RHOADS. 

